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What does itmean for you to be part of the Tekfen family?
I’ve been working at Tekfen for 52 years, because I care for my
work and do it with full sense of responsibility. After my tenth
year, I was put in full charge of our work, and had a say in company
matters. My suggestions were heard out and noted. This was due
to the fact that I took our work seriously.
What would your advice be to young people just starting
at Tekfen?
You must take responsibility. You have to be aware of them, do
your work well, and care for your work. In time, employees will
come to occupy a certain position within the company. You can’t
go anywhere without self-sacrifice. Young people must show care
to do their work right.
DehşanBaşbuğ
Foreman, Tekfen
Construction
Atila Purut
Legal Advisor,
Tekfen Holding
What does itmean for you
to be part of the Tekfen
family?
For me, it means compre-
hending your work correctly,
questioning every aspect of
the work with intelligence
and knowledge, completing
the work with relentless pur-
suit and struggle, and to
hand it over to your boss with
confidence.
What would your advice
be to young people just
starting at Tekfen?
I would advise young manag-
ers to do their work with love,
studying every aspect of it,
using their knowledge, expe-
rience, and intelligence, and
with great self-confidence
and work discipline.
What does it mean for you to be part of
the Tekfen family?
I have spent 40 years of my professional life
at Tekfen, and feel one with it. I can easily say
that it would have been impossible for me to
work for 40 years at any another company.
What would your advice be to young
people just starting at Tekfen?
There are very few companies like Tekfen
who value their personnel and have certain
principles and traditions, certainly not more
than the number of fingers on one hand (not
two). In my 40 years here, I have never seen
wages to be paid late at the construction sites
and offices where I worked. My advice to new
friends is to keep this in mind and work with
self-sacrifice, and to make up for their short-
comings if they have any. There is no end to
learning. Another important thing is to love
one’s job and profession. Work done without
love brings no good to you, your company, or
your country.
Ülkü Tatlıdil
Advisor, Tekfen
Engineering
What does itmean for you to be part of the Tekfen family?
In the days when I graduated from college in 1975, it wasn’t easy to find a job. I was very happy to start working at Tekfen with the help
of Necati Akçağlılar. I have always remembered what Sami Gerdan, our Financial Coordinator, and Ersöz Demirel, the Financial Manager
of Tekfen Construction, told me about Tekfen. In fact, Ersöz Demirel wrote the following in 1983 for the second issue of
Tekfen News
,
which Vahide Gigin and I edited:
A relatively unimportant period of time in the life of companies can be quite long for individuals. I have been a Tekfenist for 20 years and I am very
proud of it. When we were growing up, we were never taught that we could make mistakes and errors. Everything we did had to be perfect in every
way, like in a Yunus Emre convent. There is no tomorrow at Tekfen; even the work that spreads over the greatest time has to be completed by yes-
terday. We were taught that there is always a way. Tekfenism teaches you that you never start a difficult job by doubting your ability to finish it.
Experience teaches the Tekfenist to start every project with this morale.
Tekfenism means friendship, comradery, and solidarity. It’s almost like a club. We share our joys and sorrows; Tekfen and Tekfenism is a family.
In Tekfenism, time is determined by the amount of work to be done. For the Tekfenist, the work day ends when the work is done, not when the work-
ing hours are over. Excitement ends only when a difficult job is completed, and begins all over again with a new one. This is not the kind of excite-
ment where the Tekfenists lose their head in the clouds.
In short, for my young friends and prospective colleagues, Tekfenism should be a goal and being in this family should be a source of pride.
Everyone can choose a sentence to their liking from this piece and make it their motto.
What would your advice be to youngpeople just starting at Tekfen?
My young friends, if you have successfully entered Tekfen, you must also learn how to become a member of the Tekfen family.
YaseminYenal
Coordinator, Founding Partner
Relations, Tekfen Holding